HALF LIFE 2 EPISODE 3 VIDEO MOVIE
That was very, very quickly walked back.ĭays later, Newell gave an interview with Keighley in which, without mentioning Half-Life 2: Episode 3, said: "The only reason we'd go back and do like a super classic kind of product is if a whole bunch of people just internally at Valve said they wanted to do it and had a reasonable explanation for why." Apparently, a Half-Life movie is more of a sure thing. The last time anyone in any position of authority said anything remotely forward-looking about Episode 3 was March 2015, when HTC's chairwoman namedropped the franchise in an interview about the Vive, the VR headset HTC and Valve co-developed that launched earlier this month. Marc Laidlaw called it a career after 18 years with Valve, beginning with 1998's Half-Life. One of the biggest indicators that Half-Life 2: Episode 3 isn't happening, aside from the fact the thing isn't, you know, out, is that the developer who wrote all of the games preceding it retired in January. The posture changes from "we're still working on it, of course," to a very strict "we have nothing to say about Half-Life." At least in this video's chronology, the last time Newell was on camera saying the game was even still in development was with Geoff Keighley in 2009. Ten years ago, Valve was even happy to give the game a launch window - "by Christmas 2007." Perhaps not coincidentally, 2008 is when Newell starts clamming up about it. Valve and Newell were, for a time, very happy to discuss plans for Half-Life 2: Episode 3.
It's a compilation of interviews given and questions taken by Valve boss Gabe Newell in the decade since the infamous finale to the Half-Life trilogy was first announced. Half-Life 3 likely won't be announced anytime soon.No, numerologists of the Interwebs, this is not confirmation of Half-Life 2: Episode 3.
HALF LIFE 2 EPISODE 3 VIDEO SERIES
That said, if Laidlaw feels comfortable posting this publicly, it seems to suggest that the Half-Life series is truly dead as a doornail. It's really fascinating to see what could have been, especially for a game as hotly anticipated as Episode 3. This would have resulted in some mind-bending set-pieces where Freeman and Vance fight through the ship as various different eras play out around it. However, the Bootstrap device would also transport material through time. There it would be revealed that the vessel was outfitted with a technology known as the Bootstrap device - an extension of the project that produced the Portal gun that would allow matter be transported anywhere without fixed entry and exit points. The final section of the game would have played out on the Borealis itself. Their search would bring them into further conflict with the Combine, as well as another run-in with the villainous Dr. The game would have opened with Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance on the hunt for the Borealis, the Aperture research vessel that played into the plot of Episode 2.
It's fascinating to see where Valve might have taken the series, and this version of Episode 3 certainly seems like it would have been a satisfying installment in terms of plot.
The text changes most of the names of the people, places, and organizations involved - but Half-Life fans should be able to decipher what Laidlaw is talking about. It's not entirely clear whether his take on Episode 3 was something he created for the studio, or just his own personal way of appeasing fans, but it certainly makes for interesting reading. Laidlaw has long since retired from Valve, but having served as a key part of the development team for both Half-Life and its sequel, it's reasonable to expect that he worked on Half-Life 3. Now, we've been given our best indication to date as to what Valve's plans were, as writer Mark Laidlaw has posted what seems to be a plot synopsis online. For the past ten years, Half-Life fans have been left wondering where the series would have headed after the conclusion of Episode 2.